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battery life on Oregon 450


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Hi folks,

 

I am having serious batterly life problems in my Oregon 450. The batteries never last more than 4 hours.

 

I called Garmin support and they said it "might" be related to the 16 GB SD card. They said they only officially support a 4GB card and that it is possible the unit is using extra resources and thus draining the battery trying to use the 16 GB SD (class 4) card.

 

I am using alkaline batteries and have the unit set for alkaline. I've tried several different batteries (Energizer, etc). I am aware that I could get somewhat longer life out of lithium but I should be getting much better than 4 hours out of alkaline. I used to use a 400t and got much longer batterly life using alkalines on it. I have battery save mode on and the backlight timeout is enabled.

 

Other than the battery problem, the unit works normally and can read the maps on the SD card successfully.

 

Does Garmin's suggestion sound right? Anyone else with any experience with this problem? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

PS: I'm also posting this inquiry to the GPSFileDepot forums since that is where I obtained my maps for this unit.

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I've got a 16Gb class 2 card in my 450. I place custom maps and Garmin's TOPO 2008 on the memory card. The unit's memory has the base map, OSM routable maps and Ibycus maps. I have different maps enable/disabled per profile.

 

I cannot comment on using alkaline batteries, as I have only ever used NiMH and AA Lithium batteries in it. A freshly charged set of NiMH will cover me for a day of hiking. AA Lithiums give me a day and a half. In both cases, I have battery saver mode turned off. I have the backlight timeout setting at 1 minute.

 

You could try using the gps in the field without the memory card and see if that helps. If you keep everything else the same, it would help evaluate the information you received from Garmin.

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it could be related to the SD card, but if it is i'd rather say that it would be caused by a defective card (or maybe dirty contacts).

 

but it could also be just caused by how you use the oregon. do you leave the compass screen on all the time maybe?

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do you leave the compass screen on all the time maybe?

Recent tests indicated that the compass screen was no more a power hog than an active map screen while using the 450. It was in fact interesting that anything that was causing constant video updating was adding considerably to the load, regardless of the illumination setting.
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Recent tests indicated that the compass screen was no more a power hog than an active map screen while using the 450.

 

except that the compass screen continues to eat battery after the screen has been blanked, while the map screen doesn't.

Edited by dfx
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hi folks,

 

thanks much for your input.

 

i understand that i'll get longer life from the rechargables but i think it's important to note that i got much longer battery life out of the same disposlable alkaline AA batteries on my old 400t than i do on my new 450. it's not even close. i didn't even use battery save mode or backlight timeout on my old 400t.

 

i know there isn't anything defective with the SD card because i previously used this same card in my droid phone without problems.

 

as some have suggested, i guess i'll have to try it without the SD card to see if there is a remarkable difference in battery life. but i don't see how i can actually use the unit without the maps. i kind of need them. what do i do, just turn the unit on with no SD card and sit it on my coffee table to see how long before the batteries die?

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the oregon has internal storage too. you may not be able to put the complete maps from your SD card onto the internal storage, but it should be able to hold a good part of it, more than you will probably need during one day or two.

 

ah, thanks that's a good idea. hate to be a bother but can someone give me a hint as to how to load the maps onto the internal storage?

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ah, thanks that's a good idea. hate to be a bother but can someone give me a hint as to how to load the maps onto the internal storage?
Two come to mind:
  1. Remove the card and Mapsource will automatically install gmapsupp.img internally
  2. On your PC, transfer the gmapsupp.img file from the card to the internal Garmin folder

 

BTW, I doubt this has anything to do with your 16GB card, as do you. The OR 450 loves batteries, I get ~10 hrs on a pair of Eneloops w/o battery saver.

Edited by MtnHermit
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ah, thanks that's a good idea. hate to be a bother but can someone give me a hint as to how to load the maps onto the internal storage?
Two come to mind:
  1. Remove the card and Mapsource will automatically install gmapsupp.img internally
  2. On your PC, transfer the gmapsupp.img file from the card to the internal Garmin folder

 

BTW, I doubt this has anything to do with your 16GB card, as do you. The OR 450 loves batteries, I get ~10 hrs on a pair of Eneloops w/o battery saver.

 

thanks very much for the instructions. i successfully removed the SD card and used Mapsource to move the topo map to the internal unit.

 

i'll test it out to see if battery life changes at all. on the upside, at least i don't have to carry arounod that heavy SC card anymore. :P

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Hi Jerry,

 

How did your test without SD work out ?

 

I have the exact same problem with my oregon 450. It started to behave very strange few months ago (before it was ~12hours per one pair of duracell alkalines), now it is about 40minutes... and the whole display blanks (meaning, there us nothing on it) for few seconds from time to time... Now I realized that I did 2 changes few months ago: 1. changed SD card from 2Gb to 8GB. 2. update of FW.

 

Yesterday, I put brand new pair of duracell alkalines into unit, set few things in few minutes (battery indicator was at full charge) and turned of the unit. Today, I switched on the unit and it shows batteries as empty and oregon was automatically switched off after few seconds... I checked these 2 batteries in a logitech mouse, that indicated them as on 20% (so almost empty).

 

I have no idea, what can cause this problem, I doubt it is SD card, but I will do the test without using it. I hope it is not FW upgrade related. I tried NiMH 2600mAh as well, but the same result...

 

Any help is much appreciated.

 

~maki

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Hi maki,

 

Well, I have been using the 450 without the SD card and if there is any improvement in battery life it is marginal. So I'd say I'm getting 4 to 5 hours per set of batteries which is not acceptable IMO. I figure I'll just live with it until I go ahead and purchase rechargeables.

 

Your experience with 40 minutes sounds horrible. Try calling Garmin support maybe. Good luck.

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Hi Jerry,

 

rechargable did not help me... it is the same or maybe even worse. 40 minutes - it was only the last time... before that it was about 3-4 hours. But what I really hate is display blanks... I guess I have a faulty one - strange it was working perfectly in first few months...

 

~maki

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Not tried lithium batteries in my oregon yet but my friend has some in his and found something interesting.

 

Anyone else found this.

 

It appears that the 450

does recharge lithium batteries. I have tried it twice now... yesterday I

left the GPS on until the batteries got down to 2 bars and plugged it into

the USB cable. Today it is back to full charge.

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Hi Jerry,

 

How did your test without SD work out ?

 

I have the exact same problem with my oregon 450. It started to behave very strange few months ago (before it was ~12hours per one pair of duracell alkalines), now it is about 40minutes... and the whole display blanks (meaning, there us nothing on it) for few seconds from time to time... Now I realized that I did 2 changes few months ago: 1. changed SD card from 2Gb to 8GB. 2. update of FW.

 

Yesterday, I put brand new pair of duracell alkalines into unit, set few things in few minutes (battery indicator was at full charge) and turned of the unit. Today, I switched on the unit and it shows batteries as empty and oregon was automatically switched off after few seconds... I checked these 2 batteries in a logitech mouse, that indicated them as on 20% (so almost empty).

 

I have no idea, what can cause this problem, I doubt it is SD card, but I will do the test without using it. I hope it is not FW upgrade related. I tried NiMH 2600mAh as well, but the same result...

 

Any help is much appreciated.

 

~maki

I just started getting this same problem but I'm using Sanyo Eneloops. It's consuming batteries when it is off. I recently put in a freshly charged pair of Eneloops (that work well in other devices like games, cameras, etc.) and in 36 hours of being off they were dead. It was never powered on. It's worked well for most of the month that I've had it until the last week or so. It's always had a 4GB card in it. Have you had any luck with solving this? I'm going to check the altimeter recording settings tonight to see if this is a problem.--E.

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Wow I am jealous you are getting a whole 4 hours I wish. Eversince i got my Oregon 450 I have been lucky to see 3 hours out of a set of 2700 MaH batteries.

 

Just switched to a Montana with the supplied rechargeable battery and i get days not hours from this thing, Incredible!

 

 

 

 

Hi folks,

 

I am having serious batterly life problems in my Oregon 450. The batteries never last more than 4 hours.

 

I called Garmin support and they said it "might" be related to the 16 GB SD card. They said they only officially support a 4GB card and that it is possible the unit is using extra resources and thus draining the battery trying to use the 16 GB SD (class 4) card.

 

I am using alkaline batteries and have the unit set for alkaline. I've tried several different batteries (Energizer, etc). I am aware that I could get somewhat longer life out of lithium but I should be getting much better than 4 hours out of alkaline. I used to use a 400t and got much longer batterly life using alkalines on it. I have battery save mode on and the backlight timeout is enabled.

 

Other than the battery problem, the unit works normally and can read the maps on the SD card successfully.

 

Does Garmin's suggestion sound right? Anyone else with any experience with this problem? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

PS: I'm also posting this inquiry to the GPSFileDepot forums since that is where I obtained my maps for this unit.

Edited by Alfresco2006
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